diff --git a/src/selfTest.ts b/src/selfTest.ts
index 6fa1eca..85d4e88 100644
--- a/src/selfTest.ts
+++ b/src/selfTest.ts
@@ -2082,8 +2082,8 @@ export async function runSelfTest(): Promise<void> {
   const workspaceHistoryRoot = cleanupRoots.find(
     (item) => item.root === ".kt-workspace",
   );
-  if (testArtifactsRoot?.preservedNames.includes("_templates")) {
-    throw new Error("cleanup template migration self-check failed");
+  if (!testArtifactsRoot?.preservedNames.includes("_templates")) {
+    throw new Error("cleanup template preservation self-check failed");
   }
   if (!workspaceHistoryRoot?.preservedNames.includes("test-artifacts")) {
     throw new Error("cleanup workspace root preservation self-check failed");
diff --git a/src/tools/cleanup.ts b/src/tools/cleanup.ts
index 453868a..f452803 100644
--- a/src/tools/cleanup.ts
+++ b/src/tools/cleanup.ts
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ const workspaceRootPreservedNames = new Set([
 
 /**
  * Builds the directory names that represent generated artifact categories under
- * `.kt-workspace`; reusable templates and references are intentionally not
- * preserved here because they belong in `workspace-assets`.
+ * `.kt-workspace`; test artifact templates stay in place because KT page and
+ * business test flows use them as local scaffolding inputs.
  *
  * @param rootRelativePath - Cleanup root relative to the KT workspace.
  * @returns Category names that cleanup should skip when pruning `.kt-workspace`.
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ function buildPreservedNames(rootRelativePath: string): Set<string> {
       preservedNames.add(name);
     }
   }
+  if (rootRelativePath === '.kt-workspace/test-artifacts') {
+    preservedNames.add('_templates');
+  }
 
   return preservedNames;
 }